Arizona: Resolution to Affirm State Sovereignty

Arizona State Representative Judy Burgess, along with 46 cosponsors have introduced House Concurrent Resolution 2001 (HCR2001) which seeks to “claim sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government or reserved to the people by the Constitution of the United States.”

The resolution is part of a growing grassroots movement in state legislatures across the country as a protest to the intrusion of the federal government into state government affairs.

The resolution, if passed, “serves as notice and demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.”

In 2009, 38 states introduced similar resolutions, and 7 states passed them, garnering some significant national media attention for these efforts. Already in 2010, at least ten states, most recently Wyoming and Rhode Island, have introduced sovereignty resolutions and “the next step,” nullification of specific federal laws, has been gaining traction in states around the country, too.

4 thoughts on “Arizona: Resolution to Affirm State Sovereignty”

I would like to see some teeth put into these like arrest on site if they go outside those powers. To many times I think the legislatures are creating toothless bills because they don't want to actually resist unconstitutional powers that the federal government is taking but want to get publicity for it.